NO LONGER A BABY, NOT YET A MAN

Posted by Chon On Blog

“Papa, I’m no longer a baby. I am now a man. No, not yet a man but a young man,” declared Alif to me as we waited for To’Wan and big brother Patpat to return to the car with take-aways from a certain fried chicken outlet in Alor Setar.

Alhamdulillah, my baby boy had been safely circumcised at a clinic in our hometown Thursday afternoon, accompanied by To’Wan, Patpat and I. Alif went through it bravely. Except for a bit of tears and complaints when the doctor injected anaesthetic on his “doodle”, he went through the process without much fuss. “Control macho adik, control macho,” said Patpat, one hand gently touching his brother’s hand and the other, his cheeks. He also helped Alif to recite the Al-Fatihah over and over again throughout the circumcision process.

It was over in under half-an-hour, and by 6pm Alif marched out of the doctor’s room with his head held high and beaming with joy to sit next to To’Wan in the waiting lounge.

Alif was cool and composed. He wasn’t scared. If he was, he hid it well. Matter of fact, he was excited about the circumcision and was eager to get it over with when school holidays began.

On the way home to Alor Setar on Wednesday, Alif reminded us to buy him “kain pelikat”. We wanted to buy a few in KL but time wasn’t on our side. Upon reaching Alor Setar, I drove straight to Pekan Rabu where we got Alif four “kain pelikat”, his first “adult” attire, one of which he wore for circumcision.

Unlike previous homecomings where we would bunk at my mother’s house, this time we “came home” to Tok’Wan and Tok Mama’s house, my parents-in-law and the children seem to like such an arrangement a lot.

Alif seemed the happiest…not only that “scary moment” is behind him now, he also went through it in style. Tok’Wan drove him to the clinic in the BMW 120i Convertible but it was raining, so the top stayed up. I had teased him that we would be taking my MPV, to which he protested, demanding for the beemer or no circumcision. Period! It seemed it was a non-negotiable deal.

I can see that Alif is at ease and enjoying all the attention deserving of a “freshly-cut-bird” boy. He is counting the days for the clamp to be removed. Alif now has another dream to fulfill…he wants to learn to swim before fulfilling yet a bigger dream…to scuba dive. He and big brother Patpat are already surfing the Net and checking out one diving school in KL that offers scuba lessons for kids. Hmmmm, maybe Papa should feel excited about it as well!